[Alicia]

On Saturday a friend and I took Lola to the beach for a walk.  For those in MA you may know Wollaston Beach in Quincy.  Basically it's miles of beach and sea wall.  Then nice wide sidewalks next to that.  Then there are 4 lanes of busy, fast moving traffic going in both directions.  I started walking Lola there last summer to get her used to people, other dogs, noise, ect.  She'd pull at first because she was so excited, but by the end of the summer she was getting the hang of it.  This was the first time she's been there since last summer, so immediately when we pulled up she went into hyper-over excitement mode.  We're walking and I had the lead connected to her harness.....she pulled and pulled and pulled until my hand and arm couldn't take it anymore.  I did the whole stop and wait, stop and make her sit, nothing worked.  So I thought forget this I'm going to clip the lead to her collar.  Did that and no pulling!  Amazing!  So I switched back to the harness....pull pull pull.  We stopped again, Lola jumped up on the sea wall because there was a dog running after a frisbee so she was intrigued of course.  I unclipped the lead from her harness and went to clip it to her collar again.........when all of a sudden she jumps the sea wall and runs full speed to the dog.  I freak out, my friend scream, I jump over the sea wall (it's not high thank goodness) and go running after her.  The poor guys with the dog have no clue what's going on, they yell out "Is she friendly" and I say "Yeah" so they say "Don't worry, she's fine he's friendly too".  When I get to them I say, that's not the point, the point is she should have never ever ran away from me like that.  Then the little rascal wouldn't come to me when I called her.  So my friend had to sneak up behind her and grab her for me.  I was beyond mad at her and at myself.  All I could think of was....what if there was a dog on the other side of the road and she got away from me and ran that way instead.  Honestly, she'd be dead.  Strange thing is when I take her for walks around the neighborhood and it's just me and her, she's fine.  Stays by my side, no pulling, sits at intersections.  Maybe there was too much going on there?  

Besides the obvious of not clipping and unclipping her without making sure I have a good hold of her, what can I do so she never runs away from me like that again.  I don't care if a dog is running around with a steak in it's mouth, I want her to stay by my side no matter what.  Any advice, training tips would be great!
Thanks!

 

[sully]

This is why I'm not a big fan of the harness, it just helps them pull you better.  Oggie loves to pull when he sees another dog but the martingale tightens up and he will try to choke himself with it but I'm able to keep him near me at least.  I really can't imagine trying to unclip his lead while he's charging toward another dog, that is scary.  If you have to unclip the harness then I think it's not for you.  Maybe try a martingale collar while you are training her to heel.  Honestly I still don't like walking him on busy streets or anywhere near cars, they make me nervous.

 

[HannaBanana]

Master the power of Recall.

 

[sharonL]

I feel for your situation and I think that the enviro has alot to do with it....first time there in a while and alot going on....There are plenty of dogs that can be off lead and the world could come crashing down around them and they will remain calm and patient by their owners side and when I see dogs like that I am always amazed...of course that being said all of the dogs I have seen like that are not Boxers....  They are so pig headed and head strong when they choose to be and there are times that the most trained dog can seem to get a whelm and go off with a deaf ear....Fiona does it and when she does I get ticked off to no end because I know that she knows better...but she appears to be deaf when called (when she wants to be).....

I am sure maybe someone will have some training advice for you...since mine would have done the same thing I dont have any except to say to be careful and maybe just walk her on a collar instead of her harness...in the end that is what harness's are made for they are made for pulling.........

I am glad you both are okay though!

 

[PhoenixsMom]

Glad that Lola is okay and the situation didn't turn sour.
Phoenix is awful for pulling and tuning me out when she is after something or gets an idea in her head.
I don't have any training advice for you hopefully someone will chime in with some - or better yet perhaps place a bid on the current item up for bidding!  
I second the recommendation by Sully to try a martingale collar (Shaka Dog Hawaii is offering free shipping!).
Let us know what happens!

 

[Alicia]

[quote="sully\";p=\"115936":2z57c6zh]This is why I'm not a big fan of the harness, it just helps them pull you better.

 

[Alicia]

[quote="smack83\";p=\"115947":iwbr61gq]Glad that Lola is okay and the situation didn't turn sour.
Phoenix is awful for pulling and tuning me out when she is after something or gets an idea in her head.
I don't have any training advice for you hopefully someone will chime in with some - or better yet perhaps place a bid on the current item up for bidding!

 

[Alicia]

I am glad you both are okay though!

Thank you.  Yeah, the little bugger is fine.  Had the time of her life for 5 seconds playing with the black lab.  I was considering letting her run around some more, but I was so mad at her for running away!  Her and Fiona must have gotten the same memo "How to pretend you're deaf when you want to!"

 

[sully]

Personally I don't let my dog run around off leash anywhere unless its a fenced-in/closed off area.  Not even for a second.  People think I'm overly anal about it but any vet will tell you about all the dogs they see who were let off leash and got hit by cars.   Even for a dog that knows recall, like everyone is saying with boxers there can always be that one moment they don't listen and murphy's law it will be at the worst possible time.  I wouldn't even consider letting him run around Wollaston beach, its right next to a very busy street and people fly around there.  Not to mention the water is badly polluted.  I would not be surprised to find syringes or condoms on that beach.  If you want to see something scary, you should go hang out there at night in the summer sometime.   :lol:

 

[Boxer_Love]

I am glad Lola is okay, and stuff didnt turn out worse! I would prolly start back to the basics....others have chimed in with good advice and I bet more will too! Good Luck Alica

 

[Barbs2Ks]

[quote="sharonL\";p=\"115943":2glegjpm]I am glad you both are okay though!

Thank you.

 

[lentylka1]

I am so jealous when I see some dogs glued to their masters leg,but mine two also got that memo.
Glad Lola is OK.I am planning to spend more time on the recall issue.

 

[Alicia]

[quote="sully\";p=\"115984":1rjf1973]Personally I don't let my dog run around off leash anywhere unless its a fenced-in/closed off area.

 

[Templeton]

I contacted a behavioural trainer in regards to Templeton pulling and showing leash aggression to other dogs.  I don't know how other people feel about the prong collar but that was the first thing my trainer had me purchase.  I was dead against it at first because they look so cruel but I can now walk Templeton without any problems and I'm in control.  The trainer assured me that the prong collar only hurts them when they pull compared to a choke collar that apparently can cause issues with the neck.  Our goal with the prong collar is to eventually turn the prongs outwards overtime until he can walk without pulling me with a flat collar.  I have to say this method has been working great for both Temp and I and has done wonders.  Before I was becoming afraid to even walk Temp and now I can walk and run with ease (and not be dragged around).

 

[samsonsmom]

Alicia, I'm glad that it didn't turn out worse..Whew..I feel for you, believe me...One of the first meetups I took Angel to was at a field, not enclosed(we have since moved to another location), anyways Angel was playing with Baxter, a deaf dog, they both took off for the parking lot 8O, can't call Baxter, he can't hear and Angel might as well have been, they ran halfways down the street before we caught them...Waayy too much stimulation and not knowing recall at all...That became my mission after that...She's better, but far from perfect, so like Sully, Angel is NEVER allowed off leash unless it is a totally closed in area....Try the Martingale, they do work well, I am considering that for Flick, but we shall see how he does...Also try some of the suggestions in the Trainiing section regarding recall with Lola and see if that helps at all